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There has been much hype these days around the “crisis” in religious vocations. I agree that there are definitely fewer numbers of younger women entering religious communities, but the “crisis” is not in how many women are entering the convent, but in how many young women, who left everything behind to follow Christ, are being chewed up and spit out by some religious communities. This article is not to bash women religious who are truly living their lives as witnesses of Christ in the world, but to create an awareness of what is taking place within the convent walls of many communities.
Young women are definitely entering the convent, especially Millennials, so the issue is not women choosing to enter the convent, but rather some religious communities not permitting women who desire to give their whole selves to God and to the Church become a religious sister. There are too many young women who are led on in religious communities, and then without any warning are asked to leave or are forced to leave by their own choice. Formation is supposed to be a time of learning, correcting faults, and becoming closer to God, but instead in some communities formation is a time of emotional, psychological, verbal, spiritual, and even sexual abuse for the young woman who enters into religious life, and instead of being led to grow in her religious life by the love and support of superiors she is instead persecuted and attacked for trying to live an authentic religious life for God.
There is no allowance for mistakes, everything must be perfect, and crying is not permitted in front of others, so the question is have some nuns lost their humanity?
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